Discover Louisiana's Rich Poker Heritage and Events

Louisiana is one of the most important locations in poker history – up there with Texas, the birthplace of Texas Hold’em; and Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world.

It is because the game of poker – most likely – originated from New Orleans, the largest city in the state today. In the early 1800’s, The Crescent City was the gambling center of the US, as it was the only city exempt from the state’s gambling prohibition. It even had taxed and licenced casinos as early as 1815. However, alas, a full state-wide ban on gambling ended all that in 1835.

The local New Orleans residents started playing a new card game in which 5 cards out of the 20-card deck (Tens through Aces in 4 suits) were dealt face down, then the players would bet on who has the strongest hand. Back then, straights and flushes didn’t count as made hands – those were only pairs, two pairs, three of a kinds, full houses, and quads.

After a while, the players added a drawing and betting round to the game, thus 5-Card Draw, the oldest variation of poker still played today, was born. English actor Joseph Cowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829.

The new card game spread across the United States by being played in the bar rooms of riverboats sailing on the Mississippi.

Many historians believe that poker is derived from the old French card game “poque”. This lines up very well with its supposed place of origin, as Louisiana originally was a colony of France – up until President Jefferson completed the Louisiana purchase in 1803.

Louisiana’s gambling can boast a rich history outside of poker as well. In 1753, before the United States was even formed, they were holding government-run lottery draws. In 1837, the US’s first public horse track, Eclipse Park, opened in New Orleans, LA.

In 1868, the Louisiana State Lottery – which, despite what the name suggests, was a private company, not a government organization – started holding state-wide ticket sales and draws. At the same time, all other games of chance were banned in the state. What many suspected later turned out to be true – the company in fact bribed lawmakers to make their operation legal, and all other gambling illegal. In wake of the scandal, fierce anti-lottery activists gained prominence which ultimately ended in the lottery dismantling in 1893.

Nowadays, the “Pelican State” does have a legal gambling market. Worldcasinodirectory.com lists 52 licenced casinos within the state. According to the same site, 13 of them have poker rooms.

Famous Louisianan Poker Players

Brandon Adams, born in New Orleans, currently tops the Louisiana All Time Money List on Hendon with $5.2 million in career earnings. Adams is known for giving lectures at the world-famous Harvard University on top of his professional poker career.

Adams has one WSOP gold bracelet so far. He took down the $3,200 No Limit Hold’em Online High Roller event for $411,561 in 2019. He’s also appeared on classic poker TV shows such Poker After Dark on NBC and High Stakes Poker on The Game Show Network.

Fellow WSOP bracelet winner Kevin Eyster from Lafayette, LA is second behind Adams on the list, having cashed for $4.977 million during his career. In December 2015, he finished first in the $10,400 Main Event at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. He won $1.587 million, which is the biggest single live tournament cash of his career to date.